
Class. 
Book. 






Copyright If. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSflV 



The Truth in Christian 
Science 



By HERBERT ERNEST CUSHMAN, A.M., Ph.D. 

-#> 

HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY. Trans- 
lated from the German of Wilhelm Windleband. 
One volume, cloth, $2.50. 



The Truth in Christian 
Science 



A Lecture before The College Club, at 
Boston, Massachusetts 



BY 

Herbert Ernest Cushman, Ph. D. 

PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN TUFTS COLLEGE 



•£ 



BOSTON 
JAMES H. WEST COMPANY 



"Muss- 



THE LiSHARY #F 
@©NGRESS, 

TWO COPISS RECEfVEt 

MAY. 9 1902 

COPVWiOHT ENTRY 

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copy a 



Copyright, 1902 
By James H. West Company 



Contents 



I. Introduction 9 

II. The Social Aspects of Christian Science 

rf) Christian Science as Individualism . 16 
fr) Christian Science as Practical Idealism 22 

III. Christian Science and its Literature . 3 1 

IV. Christian Science and the Healing of 

Disease 35 

V. The Philosophy of Christian Science 

a) The General Mystical Argument . 41 
b~) The Criticism of Mysticism, espe- 
cially of that Form of it repre- 
sented' by Christian Science . 5 1 

1 . Christian Science does not account 

for the Present World . . . 52 

2. Christian Science lacks the Essen- 

tial Factor of Mysticism . . 55 

3. Christian Science is Self-Destruc- 

tive 59 



The Truth in Christian 
Science 



i 

Introduction 

TO one who is interested at all deeply in 
philosophical subjects, the treatment 
that Christian Science has received at 
the hands of its contemporary opponents 
seems very inadequate and often grossly 
unfair. Its critics have hardly taken it 
seriously; and, in such an attitude of mind, 
abuse and misapprehension have usurped the 
place of calm analysis and candid dissection 



io The Truth in Christian Science 

of the philosophical basis upon which the 
doctrine stands. As one Christian Science 
teacher has said, " Its most bitter opponents 
have been those who have known the least 
about it " ; — as, indeed, it has often been true 
in philosophical matters that the bitterest 
antagonism comes from partial knowledge of 
any subject in controversy. 

In the present instance, a great deal of the 
abuse has emanated from the professional 
physician. One might suppose, at first blush, 
that he would be well authorized to criticize 
the subject. Upon a little examination, how- 
ever, it is easy to see that the physician would 
be almost the last person in the world to give 
a judicial opinion on the matter. To be sure, 
he might compare the relative number of 
cures that he has made with those of the 
Christian Scientist. But as yet, no such 
careful comparison has been instituted, and 
outsiders have a suspicion that the regular 
physician emphasizes the professional blunders 
of the Christian Scientist and conceals his 



The Truth in Christian Science 1 1 

own. If the cases of failure on the part of 
the regular practitioner during the course of 
a single year were widely advertised, — failure 
to give the proper medicine ; failure cor- 
rectly to diagnose the case, as in the illness 
of President Garfield ; failure to make a right 
prognosis of the case, as in that of President 
McKinley, — the world would rise up in 
indignation that it had been so badly 
used. 

We grow indignant over any unmistakable 
exaggeration. I do not believe that the 
indiscriminate crusade which materia medica 
has carried on against Christian Science has 
resulted in any thing else than, on the one 
hand, to advertise the Christian Science 
doctrine, and, on the other, to impeach the 
judicial authority of the regular physician. 
The reasons for this are (i) that no careful 
and correct comparison of the results of the 
two practices has been made ; and (2) the 
deeper reason that, inasmuch as Christian 
Science is at basis a philosophical concern, 



12 The Truth in Christian Science 

the average regular physician is incom- 
petent to discuss it. 

Popular criticism has often found its 
expression in some such literary writing as 
the article by Mark Twain in The Cosmopol- 
itan some time since. The article was 
intended to ridicule Christian Science, and 
accomplished its end by emphasizing, in the 
inimitable humorous manner of the author, 
the inconsistencies of the doctrine. The 
question naturally arises, after reading such 
a caricature, Can not any thing, any body, 
any doctrine, be caricatured ? Is there any 
existing thing that does not have apparent 
inconsistencies ? A caricature is always 
merely negative, and therefore is not con- 
vincing. Indeed, if one is not on pleasure 
bent, but is seeking serious information on 
any matter, intentional levity, especially in 
the case of a deep religious concern, is 
resented. The popular articles of J. M. 
Buckley, LL.D., that have appeared now 
for many years, have also lacked scientific 



The 'Truth in Christian Science ij 

temper ; and while the learned gentleman 
makes a show at exposition of the errors of 
the Science which he opposes, he so mingles 
abuse and inaccuracy with his argument that 
even the most patient reader sets it aside 
as incompetent. 

Popular opinion, moreover, has its say- 
directly on the subject ; but popular opinion 
is hardly to be relied on in such matters, 
since it often gets its cue from the literary 
writers. 

My reason, therefore, for presenting a 
statement of the Christian Science theory is 
that the opportunity is still open for a candid 
analysis of it. 

We must remember that we cannot afford 
to deal with a matter of this sort other 
than seriously ; — if for no other reason, 
because to a large number of earnest-minded 
people it is a matter of religion. For our 
own sakes, indeed, we can never afford to 
treat any religious or philosophical belief in 
other than the mood in which the devotees 



14 The Truth in Christian Science 

themselves accept it. The Christian Science 
Church, founded in 1866 (the first society 
founded in 1879) has had a most extraordinary- 
growth. In 1900 it had more than 100,000 
members enrolled, and 500,000 adherents. 
In 1 90 1 it organized 83 churches, and on 
January 1, 1902, it had 663 church organiza- 
tions. In fact, it is growing at so rapid a 
rate that it is impossible at any particular 
time to give any reliable statistics concern- 
ing the number of its members. It is a 
cosmopolitan body reaching from Alaska to 
London. There are Christian Scientists in 
Brazil, in Germany, and in the Philippines. 
No church organization in modern times has 
had so rapid a growth. The members come 
from all classes of society, and they seem to 
be willing to give untold wealth to their 
cause. This organized body is one, therefore, 
that must be reckoned with, both now and in 
the future ; and scoffs and sneers at it are 
evidence of neither good manners nor good 
sense. 



The Truth in Christian Science 15 

This Introduction will explain — if any 
explanation be necessary for so obvious a 
course of conduct — the serious and respect- 
ful treatment that is given to the theme in 
the following pages. 



II 

The Social Aspects of Christian 
Science 



a) Christian Science as Individualism. 

IN the first place, Christian Science is a 
reaction from the ecclesiasticism of the 
present period, and represents individual- 
ism in religion. This will not seem obvious 
at the first glance. It is not plain that the 
period in which we live is ecclesiastical, nor 
is it obvious how Christian Science means 
individualism. Nevertheless, such is the state 
of things. It is notorious that at the present 
time the denominations are complaining that 
the people do not go to church ; the theologi- 
cal schools complain that few young men are 
willing to study for the ministry. The cause 



The Truth in Christian Science if 

in both cases is the same, and it is this : the 
church has grown more and more hide-bound 
and formal. It has become rigid in worship, 
and offers little scope for individual initiative. 
It has tried in vain to atone for this by laxity 
in doctrine. In worship, the individual is 
obliged either to conform to a rigid ritualism, 
as in certain churches, or, as in others, he sits 
idly in the pew while the minister conducts 
the worship for him. Consequently, having 
no play for his individuality in the conduct 
of the worship, he has gradually refused to 
attend church at all. The churches thus 
show little growth, and the opportunity and 
demand for ministers is limited. Young men 
looking forward to a profession refuse to 
enter the ministry, where, as individuals, 
they can have so little freedom. 

Now, Christian Science represents a re- 
action against this church traditionalism, and 
includes among its members those who 
have refused to go to any of the conven- 
tional churches on account of the conformity 



18 The 'Truth in Christian Science 

required, and also those who, while still 
church-goers, have found the conformity 
irksome. New life was demanded, and 
the dead ecclesiastical shell could not be 
reanimated. The new wine could not be 
poured into old bottles. A new church 
has been formed, in which every individ- 
ual carries on the worship. No one can 
attend a Christian Science service with- 
out feeling how universal is the worship in 
the pew, nor can any one attend the usual 
Protestant church service without feeling 
how much of the worship is done by proxy. 
The Christian Science service consists of 
music, and of parallel readings from the Bible 
and Mrs. Eddy's book, while the interpreta- 
tion must be made by each member who 
participates. The prayer is silent and there- 
fore individual. 

There is evidence of this individual relig- 
ious feeling in the practical use that is made 
of the religion. The regular Protestant serv- 
ice seems artificial when one thinks how little 



The Truth in Christian Science ig 

portion of the week-day life it occupies or 
influences. But the Christian Scientist has 
as the constant theme of his thought, conver- 
sation, and activity what his religion has done 
for him. He feels continuously the spiritual 
eminence it has given him. 

Looked at from a social point of view, the 
Christian Science movement is a social reform. 
It represents the protest of the individual. 
It finds its counterpart in many epochs in 
history, — as in the revolt of Luther from 
the Roman Catholic Church, in the revolt of 
Wesley from the English Church, and in 
many other ecclesiastical crises. It is an 
antidote for the poison in the blood of the 
church, and as such I, for one, sympathize 
with it heartily. The boom is now on, 
to use a western phrase, and I look to see 
this new church attain considerable propor- 
tions. The individual's religious life has been 
starved, and now we find the individual rising 
to a full consciousness of his power. The 
central doctrine of Christian Science, to wit : 



20 The Truth in Christian Science 

that God is the real in the life of every 
individual, although, as we shall see, it is a 
very old doctrine, has given to the modern 
man a new sense of his immortality and 
greatness. He finds himself great even in 
his routine and menial work, and he revolts 
against the traditionalism which has practically 
obscured his greatness to himself. Even 
his health, his life, according to this new 
church's teaching, rests in his own power. 
He denies the claims of heredity, environ- 
ment, and disease, and in his enthusiasm the 
individual is ready every-where to shake off 
the shackles that have seemed to limit him. 
The denial of the existence of matter is only 
the other form of this self-arrogation. 

If this emphasis upon individuality had not 
taken this religious form, it would have taken 
some other at the present time. History 
is matter of ebb and flood — individualism, 
then traditionalism, then individualism again. 
Trace the course of history and see if this is 
not its process. Sometimes the tradition- 



The Truth in Christian Science 21 

alism or the individualism is scientific in 
expression, — sometimes political, sometimes 
philosophical. Whatever the character of the 
expression, human history vibrates between 
these two poles. 

To-day individualism must express itself, 
and it finds religion its best medium. After 
the current " boom " in this direction is 
over, — perhaps long after you and I have 
departed hence, — traditionalism will again 
resume its sway. Every body of individuals 
has to organize, as this church has done ; but 
later on the organization and forms will be 
emphasized at the expense of individual 
expression. It has always been so. Already 
there is a Reformed Christian Science Church 
in Washington with a large number of 
adherents, which represents a revolt against 
the form of worship implied in the adoration 
of the person of Mrs. Eddy. 



22 "The Truth in Christian Science 



b) Christian Science as Practical Idealism. 

This movement is not only a reaction against 
ecclesiasticism, but, as its name indicates, 
against materialism as well. Ecclesiasticism 
and materialism are not of necessity compan- 
ions, but in the present period of civilization 
they happen to be such. 

In the term materialism, as we roughly use 
it here, are included all those forms of human 
activity that are non-idealistic, from the 
ordinary forms of commercial life to the 
achievements in practical science. Any occu- 
pation may become materialistic in temper if 
the higher ideals are wanting to it and it 
exists for itself alone. There is hardly space 
within the limits of this lecture to define 
more fully the concept of materialism. It is 
sufficient to say that human aims are sub- 
stantially materialistic when they do not reach 
beyond and beneath the passing phenomena 
of human existence. Practically, a materialist 



The Truth in Christian Science 23 

does not have to form any theoretical material- 
istic view of the ultimate constitution of the 
world, such as Lord Kelvin's theory of the 
world as composed of atomic rings, or as 
Descartes' theory of the identity of space 
and matter. Such views are elaborated only 
by metaphysicians. Men are practically 
materialists when they have no ideals what- 
soever, and when their lives are given over to 
pleasure, self-aggrandizement, money-making, 
or any end that does not rise above what the 
senses may perceive. 

It is possible that the fact may have 
escaped the notice of some that the close of 
the eighteenth century was idealistic in all 
its best products. Some of its ideals were 
capricious and mad, as those of the French ; 
some were expressed in a rich literature, as, 
for example, the works of the German 
romanticists ; and this romantic, idealizing 
spirit flowed over into the first two decades 
of the nineteenth century. But the fall of 
Napoleon, who was the great idealizer of that 



2$ The Truth in Christian Science 

romantic time, marks the beginning of the 
nineteenth century's materialism. 

At the beginning of the nineteenth century 
two movements started which have not yet 
finished their course. These could not color 
the activity of that century other than with 
materialism. One of the movements arose 
out of the necessity for a minute division of 
labor on account of the growth in inventions 
and labor-saving machinery, and it resulted in 
the aggregation of people into great cities, 
the world over. The other was on the 
theoretical side, in the development of the 
doctrine of evolution. The last century 
therefore was characterized by mental absorp- 
tion in the details of life ; and the new situa- 
tions, both social and theoretical, demanded 
all the attention of even the most active 
minds. There was no time for ideals. The 
pressing moment employed all the world's 
energy of thought. Consequently the nine- 
teenth century was one of hurry, specializa- 
tion, " common sense," development of the 



The Truth in Christian Science 25 

means for giving comfort to manual labor 
and for satisfying material need. When 
such a social spirit has run its course we 
may naturally look for a reaction, and 
the Christian Science movement is the first 
symptom of the coming change in social life. 
In the spirit of prophecy, we see in it the 
crude beginning of the release of busy man 
from the problems of a busy world. 

It is not surprising that the reaction from 
materialism, as expressed by Christian Science, 
is extreme. Christian Science denies the 
existence of matter. It is a bold and flat con- 
tradiction of the very basis of modern activity. 
It does not make a difference of degrees in 
objects, but draws a sharp line between 
matter and spirit. Spirit is, matter is not. 
Theoretically there certainly is not the slight- 
est equivocation in the Christian Science 
doctrine. The call is " Back to Christ," — 
back to the spirituality of the beginning of 
this era. Christian Science, to use the words 



26 The Truth in Christian Science 

of its devotees, is " demonstrable Christianity." 
It is a " spiritual understanding of the words 
of the Scripture, ,, — a phrase which reminds 
us of Origen and the Gnostics. In other 
words, we are to look for the omniscience, 
omnipresence, and omnipotence of God. 

There is, therefore, a distinctly religious 
and unequivocal spiritual basis for this belief ; 
and one should note that, in order to emphasize 
this basis to the last degree, the Christian 
Scientists have always disclaimed any relation 
whatsoever to sects which, to an outsider, 
seem in doctrine to resemble Christian 
Science. For example, Christian Science is 
held to be quite different from mental science. 
Mental science claims no special revelation, 
but finds an historical basis for its theory in 
ancient philosophy. It is, therefore, a philos- 
ophy of life. It does not deny the existence 
of matter, but, " even admitting that the whole 
cosmos is, in the last analysis, but one Univer- 
sal Mind, . . . still matter has its own relative 
reality and validity, and is not to be ignored 



The Truth in Christian Science 27 

as illusion." Nor is Christian Science to be 
identified with divine healing. This latter is 
based on the theory that healing is accom- 
plished by the prayer of faith to a personal 
God. Christian Science holds, on the con- 
trary, as its primal tenet that man and God 
are not distinct principles, but only one prin- 
ciple. There is only One ; that is God, or 
Mind, — and that art thou." Christian Scien- 
tists deny that the phenomena of their relig- 
ion can be explained by hypnotism and 
mesmerism, because the human will has in 
itself no power. There is no will save that 
of God. 

The upshot of the whole matter is con- 
tained in the simple statement that God as 
spirit alone exists. From this premise it 
follows that all else is symbolical. Men are 
brothers, but they are more, — they are one 
in God ; they are He. Salvation, therefore, 
is from all that earthly is, because the earthly 
is not in reality : it is only an illusion. So 
sin, disease, death are but illusions ; and this 



28 The Truth in Christian Science 

salvation Christ, who was God as He most 
purely appeared in human form, came to 
bring. Mrs. Eddy defines Christian Science 
thus : " It is the law of God, it is the law of 
good, interpreting and demonstrating the law 
of eternal harmony.' ' 

Were I called on to classify and label 
Christian Science on its theoretical side, I 
should say that it is the modern version of 
that great principle of Mysticism which was 
introduced into Europe from the East when 
Alexandria was the center of culture. There 
have been many European representatives of 
this Eastern doctrine, and its presentation has 
differed in the hands of these Europeans 
according to the needs of their times. 
Plotinus, Meister Eckhart, and Spinoza were 
Mystics ; but the Mystical doctrine also 
appears in Saint Paul, Thomas a Kempis, 
Luther, and Walt Whitman. 

It will thus be seen that Christian Science is 
akin to many mighty theories ; and those who 
have any prejudice against it may object to 



The "Truth in Christian Science 29 

such a classification. But no historical objec- 
tion can be raised if one will take the trouble 
to analyze the theories which I have named. 
Christian Scientists claim that their doctrine 
is unique ; that there is nothing like it. But 
this claim can have no weight with an 
historian of philosophy. 1 On its practical 
side, — that is, its healing of disease by 
prayer, — it has had predecessors from time 
immemorial. On its theoretical side, — the 
aspect of Christian Science that most inter- 
ests us here, and is in fact its most impor- 
tant aspect, — it is not unique. Indeed, the 
Mystical principle of Christian Science is 
identical with one aspect of a flourishing 
Christian sect of to-day, namely, of the 
Methodist Church. 

I realize the danger of making a classifica- 
tion of this sort. The several theories I 
have mentioned differ in many important 
particulars. My only excuse for leaving 
the classification in so dogmatic a manner 
is that historical perspective is thus given 



jo The Truth in Christian Science 

to the subject under discussion. All of 
the above named theories involve the Mys- 
tical element. They also have their own 
points of divergence from Mysticism. A 
discussion of Christian Science involves, 
therefore, a presentation of the doctrine of 
Mysticism in general, and of the variation or 
divergence from Mysticism peculiar to Mrs. 
Eddy's philosophy. This consideration will 
follow in due course. 



Ill 

Christian Science and its Literature 

UP to this point, I have attempted to 
show what place Christian Science 
occupies in our modern social life. It 
is a social movement toward religious individ- 
ualism and toward idealism. In other words, 
it represents, as has been shown, a great 
social reaction against ecclesiasticism and 
materialism. In spite of its claims as a 
unique and original revelation, it is historically 
linked to very many similar movements. The 
world has often seen its like before, after 
society had lapsed into a state of materialism 
similar to that lately prevalent. 

With this understanding of the social status 
and importance of the Christian Science 
movement, let us turn to examine somewhat 



J2 The 'Truth in Christian Science 

the philosophy and practice of the movement 
itself. 

Like any other socio-religious philosophical 
tendency, it has expressed itself in two ways : 
(i) in its practical results upon the lives of 
its communicants ; (2) in its theoretical ideals. 
By the fruits one knows a theory, and it is 
equally true that by a theory does one know 
the fruits. The literature in which the dogma 
of Christian Science is deposited is easily 
accessible to us. Besides the many treatises 
on the subject written by professed Christian 
Scientists, Mrs. Eddy herself has formulated 
her theory in her book, " Science and Health,'' 
which is authoritative for all Christian Sci- 
entists. She has written, in addition, many 
dissertations to explain and extend the doc- 
trine developed in her " Science and Health. " 
Among these are " Rudimental Divine Sci- 
ence," " Christian Science versus Pantheism," 
" No and Yes," and others. 

I do not agree with those critics who find 
Mrs. Eddy's literary style wooden and un- 



The Truth in Christian Science jj 

attractive. To me it is full of rich imagina- 
tions whose disorder and mixture partly veil 
and partly reveal the meaning that she is 
attempting to express. She deals in para- 
doxes, but so do all Mystics. To condemn 
her paradoxes is to condemn the whole body 
of Mystical literature. The obscurity of 
statement, frequent faultiness of diction, and 
obvious ignorance of the meaning of many of 
the terms which are used, is offset by a large 
sweep in the movement of the language. 

I do not find the difficulty with Mrs. Eddy's 
literary style that others find, for one gets 
used to lack of style in philosophical writings 
where the thought is difficult to express. 
The fault is perhaps deeper than crudeness 
of expression. The fault in the Christian 
Science literature is rather inadequacy and 
incompleteness of thought. The statements 
of Christian Science are as yet immature and 
incomplete. There is an apparent lack of 
knowledge of the logic of the situation. 
Believing their theory to be unique, how 



34 The Truth in Christian Science 

could the Christian Scientists study the 
history of their doctrine and its implica- 
tions ? May I say that instead of believing, 
as many do, that there is no truth in Chris- 
tian Science, or at best but a small truth, I 
am sure that Christian Science embodies a 
much profounder truth than Mrs. Eddy or 
any of her followers realize. If any one is 
interested in the subject that Christian Sci- 
ence tries to express, he should not read Mrs. 
Eddy's books to find it profoundly stated, 
but Plotinus , "Enneads," Spinoza's "Ethics," 
or Deussen's " Elements of Metaphysics.' ' 
But after all has been said about the in- 
adequacy of the Eddy version of Mysticism, 
it should be added that among modern relig- 
ious theories it stands as a relatively important 
statement of truth. 



IV 

Christian Science and the Healing 
of Disease 

ANY criticism of the Christian Science 
movement would not seem orderly 
unless beginning with some reference 
to its practical side, — the power of heal- 
ing. We ought to remember, however, that 
altogether too much emphasis is laid upon the 
healing of disease as a part of the general 
doctrine, both by the opponents and by the 
adherents of Christian Science. Mrs. Eddy 
says, " Healing physical sickness is the small- 
est part of Christian Science. It is only the 
bugle-call to thought and action in the higher 
range of infinite goodness. The emphatic 
purpose of Christian Science is the healing of 



j6 The Truth in Christian Science 

sin; and this task is a million times harder 
than the cure of disease, because, while 
mortals love to sin, they do not love to be 
sick. Hence their comparative acquiescence 
in your endeavors to heal them of bodily ills, 
and their obstinate resistance to all efforts 
to save them from sin through Christ, spirit- 
ual Truth, and Love, which redeem them and 
become their Savior through the flesh, from 
the flesh, the material world, and evil/' 

It would of course be unfair to criticize 
this statement on the score of inconsistency, 
although some say that Christian Science was 
originally the healing of disease, and that orig- 
inally the practical side solely was emphasized ; 
that the healing of sin was an after-thought. 
Probably most people think of Christian Sci- 
ence as a medical creed in religious formulae. 
Probably few people have considered the social 
and philosophical aspects of the subject. Yet 
we must take the Christian Science doctrine 
as it stands, and allow a development to it as 
to any other doctrine. 



The Truth in Christian Science jy 

It has, as it stands to-day, two aspects, the 
practical and the theoretical ; — Christian Sci- 
ence as efficacious for the cure of disease, and 
Christian Science as efficacious for the pre- 
vention of sin. I shall consider the two in 
succession. 

The healers of disease outside the regular 
physicians are of four classes : (i) mental 
scientists; (2) divine healers; (3) hypnotists; 
and (4) Christian Scientists. The divine 
healers and the Christian Scientists differ in 
their methods, but are alike founded upon 
a religious principle. Mental science is a 
philosophy of life ; while hypnotism is strictly 
scientific. All of these classes of healers 
except the hypnotists claim to be able to cure 
all diseases. The hypnotist tries only certain 
kinds of cases, and he is very careful in the 
use of his method. It is impossible to com- 
pare the number of cures, and the number of 
failures to cure, in these different schools, 
for the' reason that only the hypnotist keeps 
a record of his cases. They all certainly cure 



j8 The Truth in Christian Science 

disease, and they all experience failure. They 
all cure the same kinds of disease, and the 
same kinds of disease are incurable by them 
all, so far as can be known. This goes to 
show, to one who impartially judges all these 
schools, that from their methods and from 
their results there is a common principle 
in Christian Science, divine healing, me7ttal 
science, and hypnotism. That principle is 
what the hypnotists have long regarded as 
the basal principle in their science, namely, 
mental suggestion. 

I cannot in the limits of this lecture go 
into an explanation of mental suggestion, 
except to say that psychologists mean by it 
the abnormal control of the mental activity 
of one person by another person. Christian 
Science has effected its cures by mental 
suggestion, — the mind of the healer has 
controlled the mind of the patient until the 
patient has grown strong enough to control 
his own mind. I need not say here that there 
are very many diseases that are mental in 



The Truth in Christian Science jg 

their origin, nor need I say that mind can 
influence body. Bergheim, a celebrated 
French hypnotist, gives a list of 105 diseases 
of different kinds that he has cured by hyp- 
notism. Among them are 10 kinds of organic 
diseases of the nervous system, 17 kinds of 
hysteria, 18 kinds of neuropathic affections, 
15 miscellaneous nervous troubles, 3 kinds of 
paresis, 4 intestinal troubles, 19 kinds of 
rheumatism, 5 kinds of neuralgia, and several 
kinds of diseases peculiar to women. I know 
of a case within a year of the cure of the 
morphine habit by hypnotism. Hypnotism 
is used as an anaesthetic in surgery. It is suc- 
cessful in numberless cases of split or double 
consciousness. Professor H. H. Goddard, 
who has investigated the subject of mental 
healing very thoroughly, publishes a table 
compiled from 4 1 4 cases treated by hypnotism 
by Drs. Van Rhenterghem and Van Eeden. 
Of these, 71 were absolute failures, 92 were 
slightly or temporarily helped, 98 were per- 
manently or decidedly ameliorated, 100 were 



40 The Truth in Christian Science 

cured, and 53 had results unknown. The 
investigations show (1) that the deeper the 
hypnosis the larger the percentage of cures ; 
(2) that not all cases were cured ; (3) that 
some diseases are less amenable than others 
to cure by hypnotism. 

So far as the practical side of Christian 
Science goes, we may affirm three things : 

(1) the Christian Scientist cures some diseases ; 

(2) the cure does not depend on his distinctive 
method; (3) the principle involved is mental 
suggestion, which is much more perfectly 
used by hypnotists. 



V 
The Philosophy of Christian Science 

a) The General Mystical Argument, 

A CRITICAL examination of the Chris- 
tian Science philosophy must begin with 
a study of the psychology that underlies 
it. Here, as throughout the entire range of 
its doctrine, I must repeat that Christian 
Science is essentially a philosophical but very 
inadequate representative of Mysticism. We 
shall, however, find it profitable to study the 
Mystical principled that the Christian Scien- 
tist attempts to express ; and very likely the 
Christian Scientist understands the philosophy 
of his religion as well as most other religious 
people do theirs. 

What the Christian Scientist is seeking in 



42 The Truth in Christian Science 

his philosophy is what all religious and phil- 
osophical people are seeking. Their search 
is for truth, reality, — for something that 
gives to the transitory things of life a genuine- 
ness ; for that in which " we live and move and 
have our being." We all desire to know what 
is real and what is sham ; and amid the mys- 
tery of life we all are groping to find that 
upon which we may rely, that which is eternal, 
never changing. 

"What, then, in human experience, is 
real, unchanging, eternal?" asks the Chris- 
tian Scientist. " Sensations," answers the 
physical scientist. "No," says the Christian 
Scientist, " sensations are notoriously fickle. 
They give no certainty. They are con- 
tinually changing. The iron I touch is warm 
or cold according as my hand is colder 
or warmer than it. The same sound will be 
loud or soft according to my irritability when 
I hear it. So with all sensations — they all 
are relative to the state of the body and mind 
of the person experiencing them." 



The Truth in Christian Science 43 

So also the Mystic, from time immemorable, 
has urged that the individual's feelings and 
desires are far from unchanging, far from per- 
manent in their constitution. Even unreflect- 
ing people have come to see that the feelings, 
desires, and emotions are as fickle as the wind. 
No desire can be permanently satisfied. Satis- 
fied once, it leads to another desire. Appetite 
is whetted by what it feeds on. Schopenhauer, 
in his pessimistic way, said that there is 
nothing satisfactory about the satisfaction of 
desires ; for satisfaction is death both to the 
desire and to the satisfaction. A new desire 
comes like a Phoenix from the ashes of the 
first. The pleasure-hunter goes from this to 
that, and nowhere finds truth, reality, and 
unchangingness. If we depended alone on 
feeling and desire for eternal peace, we 
should never find it. 

But we have not yet exhausted, in our 
analysis, the realm of our experiences. There 
is the domain of ideas, which yields to us 
things or objects external to us. By a 



44 ^he T^ruth in Christian Science 

thing I mean a person like John, or an 
object like a library, or a more complex 
matter like the Ptolemaic system of astron- 
omy. Certainly those ideas are permanent 
and unchanging. But are they ? asks the 
Mystic. All that I know of a thing comes 
from my contact with it — from sensations ; 
and sensations, we have seen, are ever chang- 
ing. What do I know of a lump of sugar, 
except that it is white, sweet, granulated, and 
so on, all of which qualities are sensory ? 
Subtract the qualities from the sugar, and 
what have you left ? My idea of the sugar 
is made up of these sensations and of the 
feelings that go with them. That is all that 
I know of a thing. Ideas do not necessarily 
represent any thing in the world of reality. 
Every individual has his own ideas, differing 
from other individuals' ideas. Ideas, there- 
fore, as composed and built up out of sensa- 
tions, cannot be anything else than unreal. 
Man indeed lives in a world of ideas ; he 
depends on ideas for his practical use of life : 



The Truth in Christian Science 45 

but he is never sure that there is anything 
corresponding to them in fact. For does not 
science change ? Are we not, as a race, the 
victims of social illusions ? We depend on 
our ideas for practical guidance, but when we 
come to inquire into the trustworthiness of 
our guide we find an illusion. How universal 
is the unsatisfactoriness of life ! How inev- 
itable is our remorse when we have reached 
any point of maturity and looked back ! The 
ideas which we trusted, the things in which 
we believed, have deceived us. We thought 
they were real, but we now know them 
wanting. 

I am putting the Mystic's argument in as 
simple and untechnical a fashion as I can in 
order to be rid of the technical philosophical 
terminology. The Eastern Mystical world 
gives up human knowledge because it believes 
it vain, and it looks pityingly upon its Occi- 
dental brethren because they willfully chase 
illusions of their own construction. 

The intellectual faculties and the bodily 



46 The Truth in Christian Science 

sensations and impulses do not give us 
the eternal. On the contrary, they yield 
only phantoms and unsatisfying impressions. 
Where then shall I look for the eternal? 
In my search there is one place I have for- 
gotten, — my own Self. I know myself. I 
am sure of this knowledge. It is the injunc- 
tion above the Delphic temple : yv&0i aeavrov. 
It is the certainty upon which Descartes 
based his philosophy : cogito ergo sum. My 
senses do not tell me of myself ; my thoughts 
and ideas never find it for me. It is an 
intuitive revelation. Of one thing I am 
certain — / am. Here is reality. 

But what is this " I," this ego ? It is, says 
the Christian Scientist, Mind. Schopenhauer 
called it Will. Mystics differ as to the name 
they give it. It is at any rate a Oneness 
which quenches all thought, feeling, and 
strife. But who am I ? I am Brahma. I 
am God. This " I " that is myself is the 
same as the "I " in all other men. In this 



The Truth in Christian Science 47 

are all men alike, however much they may- 
differ in their unreal ideas and sensations. 
They all alike are real. They all are God. 
Therefore Mrs. Eddy says, without present- 
ing the reasoning process by which she comes 
to the conclusion, " All is Mind. . . . The five 
material senses testify to the existence of 
matter. The spiritual senses afford no such 
evidence, but deny the testimony of the 
material senses. ... If, as the Scriptures 
declare, God is All-in-all, then there must be 
Mind, since God is Mind. Therefore, in 
divine science there is no material mortal 
man, for man is spiritual and eternal ; he is 
made in the image of Spirit or God." And 
Mrs. Eddy continues, " Accepting the verdict 
of these material senses, we should believe 
man and the universe to be the foot-ball of 
chance and sinking into oblivion. Destroy 
the five senses as organized matter, and you 
must either become non-existent or exist in 
Mind only ; and this latter conclusion is the 



48 "The Truth in Christian Science 

simple solution of the problem of Being and 
leads to the equal inference that there is no 
matter." 

Rev. Irving C. Tomlinson says : " The Sci- 
ence of Mind has its idea, and this idea, or man, 
partakes of the nature of his Principle, the 
Infinite Mind, our God. Numbers have their 
signs, the figures which represent them. Man 
has his sign, the human figure, which repre- 
sents him, Numbers exist in mind as ideas, 
and are governed by their principle. Man 
exists in Mind as an idea, and is governed by 
his Principle. That which is real and sub- 
stantial in mathematics is not the signs and 
symbols which are seen, but the principle of 
mathematics and its ideas. That which is 
real and substantial in Mind is not the 
human figure which is seen, but God and 
his idea, the perfect man — these are real 
and eternal." 

There is a very beautiful passage in the 
Hindu Upanishads, translated by Professor 
Lanman and used by Professor Royce, which 



The Truth in Christian Science 49 

states profoundly this central truth of Mys- 
ticism : 

1. 

Verily the universe is Brahm. Let him whose soul is 
at peace worship it as that which he would fain 
know. 

Of knowledge verily is man constituted. As is his 
knowledge of this world, so, when he hath gone 
hence, doth he become. After knowledge then let 
him strive. 

2. 

Whose substance is spirit, whose body is life, whose 
form is light, whose purpose is truth, whose essence 
is infinity — the all- working, all- wishing, all-smelling, 
all-tasting One, that embraceth the universe, that is 
silent, untroubled, — 

3- 

That is my spirit within my heart, smaller than a grain 

of rice or a barley-corn or a grain of mustard-seed ; 

smaller than a grain of millet or even than a husked 

grain of millet. 
This my spirit within my heart is greater than the 

earth, greater than the sky, greater than the heavens, 

greater than all the worlds. 

4- 

The all-working, all-wishing, all-smelling, all-tasting 
One, that embraceth the universe, that is silent, 



50 The Truth in Christian Science 

untroubled — that is my spirit within my heart ; 
that is Brahm. Thereto, when I go hence, shall I 
attain. Who knoweth this, he in sooth hath no 
more doubts. 
Thus spake Shandilya — spake Shandilya. 

This is the same Mystical notion of the 
union of individual men that Saint Paul 
meant, when he said that, as in Adam 
all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. 
Although Saint Paul qualified his Mys- 
ticism in many ways by personifying sin, 
making sin inevitable, conceiving human 
nature as dualistic, still his working principle 
was the essential unity of man and God. If 
we review the long series of Mystical doc- 
trines in the Middle Ages, read the little book 
of Thomas a Kempis called the " Imitation 
of Christ," carefully study the profound 
philosophical Mysticism of Spinoza, we shall 
find a large amount of interesting literature 
teaching the vanity of the world of human 
ideas and human sensations, — that is, the 
nothingness of matter and the reality of the 



The Truth in Christian Science 5/ 

illuminating and unperishing union of the 
soul of man with the soul of God. The 
Christian Scientist seems unaware of this 
literature, and in his exuberance of feeling 
his exposition of his own doctrine has been 
affected in two ways : ( 1 ) he has stated his 
theory in a very inadequate form ; and (2) he 
has stated it as if it were something new. 



b) The Criticism of Mysticism, especially of 
that Form of it represented by Christian 
Science. 

A criticism of so profound, so thorough- 
going, and so wide-spread a doctrine as 
Mysticism — which doctrine the Christian 
Scientist has as yet unsuccessfully attempted 
to express — demands more space than the 
limits of this lecture can afford. But briefly 
I wish to point out some of the advantages 
that accrue to such a theory, and some of the 
defects that necessarily restrict it. 



52 The Truth in Christian Science 

I. Christian Science does not account for the 
Present World. 

In the first place, Mysticism, like all ideal- 
ism, carries us above the practical " common 
sense " of life, and in this effort there 
accrue to it many advantages and many dis- 
advantages. What is its ideal ? The Chris- 
tian Scientist calls it Mind, the Hindu calls 
it Nirvana, Emerson called it the Over-Soul. 
Martineau in a caustic way criticizes the Mys- 
tical ideal as "a motionless immensity of com- 
placency ." All great Mystics point out the 
futility of attempting to describe this ideal. 
Is the reason that it cannot be described 
because it is mere Nothing ? No, says the 
Mystic, it is the opposite of Nothing. It is 
everything, it is reality. Man's ideas and 
sensations, and matter, are nothing ; but God 
is real. The life of the flesh is nothing ; the 
life of the soul is everything true. Man in 
the flesh is laboring under a continuous 
illusion, and part of that illusion is the notion 



The Truth in Christian Science 53 

that the science of Mind, Nirvana, God-life, 
absorption in the Over-Soul, is nothing. 

Such a theory does not account for this 
life. It simply thrusts this life to one side, 
by calling it an illusion. That will not do. 
A metaphysical theory must take account of 
all life. You do not solve a problem in 
mathematics by erasing it from your slate, 
nor a problem in chess by kicking over the 
chess-board in vexation. Religion and philos- 
ophy are attempts by men to show what place 
this present life occupies in a larger scheme ; 
they will never satisfy if the emphasis is so 
placed on the idealistic element involved that 
the life in which we live is unaccounted for. 
My criticism is not that Christian Science, 
like all Mystical theories, finds the world of 
the senses — the "common sense" world — 
unreal; but that Christian Science does not 
account for the unreality of " common sense " 
in its general scheme of things. Christian 
Science merely destroys the " common sense M 
world and then banishes it. It solves its 



54 The Truth in Christian Science 

problem by erasing the problem from its 
slate. It merely kicks over its chess-board. 
One can always ask the Mystic, Why are 
we here ! 

On the other hand, there is the welcome 
aspect to all Mysticism — and personally I am 
glad to see Christian Science in the world 
to-day — that it calls attention, even if at 
the expense of common sense, to the ideal- 
istic and spiritual side of life. Without ideals 
the race could not progress, yet ideals are 
always above the common sense world and 
out of touch with it. All reform movements 
in the history of the race have been Mystical 
and idealistic. " Common sense " and real- 
ism were never anything but conservative 
and unprogressive. 



The Truth in Christian Science 55 

2. Christian Science lacks the Essential Factor of 
Mysticism. 

A second criticism of Christian Science 
shows to what sublime heights it is possible 
for the Mystical doctrine to ascend, and what 
on the other hand are the dangers that assail 
it, if it does not reach those heights. As we 
have said, Mysticism is the daring, ambitious, 
and radical element in human society. Its 
idealism is of such a nature that it stakes its 
all upon a single chance. By its insight it 
must gain all or nothing. No plodding, con- 
servative, scientific, and practical life for it, — 
no life carefully economizing the fruits of 
earthly existence ! No trudging with weary 
feet up the rugged height ! No, its insight 
carries it far away from these dusty realms 
below. It stakes all earth against a heaven, 
and, if any particular Mystical doctrine does 
not win this heaven, its fall is great. 

The dangers are many to such Mystical 
aspiration, and nothing reveals more clearly 

LoFC. 



56 The 'Truth in Christian Science 

the littleness and greatness of the Mystical 
doctrine. It is great if it conceives its ideal 
in that ideal's possible completeness ; and the 
prominent historical theories of Mysticism 
have been very great indeed. But it is little 
if it falls a hair short of reaching its end. 

That profounder representative of Mys- 
ticism, Plotinus, developed the theory to its 
logical conclusion. He conceived God to be 
a being of such transcending power that 
human beings could not ascribe any attribute 
to him. The Absolute is beyond all finite 
definition, wanting nothing, desiring nothing, 
like a pure light beyond darkness. He is 
wholly unspeakable and superior to human 
characterization. To attempt to define Him 
is to limit Him, even by such terms as 
Thought or Being. He is not this nor this 
nor this, and yet is present in all things. 
Spinoza was so overwhelmed by the glory of 
God's power that he was called the God- 
intoxicated man. But Christian Science has 
fallen short of such an ideal conception of the 



The Truth in Christian Science 5/ 

Absolute, and it thus fails of the sublimest 
aspect of Mysticism. Mrs. Eddy speaks of 
God as harmony, as reason, as good, as law ; 
and scarcely any Christian Scientist would be 
willing to deny to the deity the attributes of 
love, wisdom, and freedom. Yet all these are 
human attributes, and to ascribe them to God 
is not fully to conceive the mystery that 
makes his ways past finding out. I say this 
from the Mystic's point of view, and not from 
that of one who would find the Absolute 
revealed in earthly life. In the great Mystical 
systems, the sublime conception of God has 
offset in some measure, and thereby justified, 
the Mystic's denial of all moral distinctions 
to men. 

To deny to God distinctiveness and peculiar- 
ity is in a way safe, and is uplifting. This 
denial the Christian Scientist should make, 
yet does not. To deny, however, to human 
life such distinctions is dangerous. But this 
the Christian Scientist does. This modern 
expression of Mysticism has, therefore, the 



58 The Truth in Christian Science 

dangers but none of the safeguards possible 
to the great Mystical teaching. 

Consider the consequences of denying the 
existence of sin and of disease. To deny 
the existence of sin is to deny the existence 
of virtue; and to disallow disease is to dis- 
allow health. There cannot be good without 
ill, virtue without sin, health without disease, 
knowledge without ignorance, heat without 
cold, white without black. These are cor- 
relative terms. They are as mutually neces- 
sary as one pole of a magnet is to the other. 
To deny sin and disease is to deny all moral 
distinctions whatsoever, and upon moral dis- 
tinctions is society built. 

The littleness of the Christian Science doc- 
trine, its serious danger and menace to society, 
lies not in its claim to be beyond the pale of 
the law in its treatment of disease and sin, 
but in its theory about disease and sin, offset 
by no supreme Mystical ideal. Such a theory 
aims a blow at the whole structure of society. 
It is theoretical moral Anarchism. 



The Truth in Christian Science jp 

j. Christian Science is Self-Destructive. 

The last point in criticism of what is 
fundamental in Christian Science is that if 
it be consistently carried out it is self- 
destructive. 

I suppose that all finite explanations of the 
mystery of life are inconsistent — simply 
because they are finite. The presumption is 
always against a complete and consistent 
theory of God and of man's relation to the 
universe. This indeed is the final statement 
of philosophy — " in mystery philosophy begins 
and in mystery it ends." But all theories of 
the mystery of life are not self-destructive. 
The criticism against Mystical theories is that 
essentially they are such. Let me say that, 
in showing how this is the case, I shall 
present the great traditional criticism, and 
not an original one. 

The fundamental principle in Christian 
Science is contrary to our living this life of 
ours. Suppose, for example, you were placed 



60 The Truth in Christian Science 

in a certain position which made every thing 
an illusion to you. Suppose you could not 
alter the conditions, nor your own predicament, 
so long as you remained in your position. 
Up seemed down, wrong seemed right. 
What would be your duty ? To get into a 
different position, of course, where there 
would be no illusions. From the Mystical 
point of view, the position above supposed 
is exactly our situation here in these earthly 
bodies. The world, the flesh, and the devil 
are illusions. Our duty is to get rid of 
such illusions. But the only way to get rid 
of them is by suicide. The Christian Sci- 
entist expressly says that until man is perfect 
he will be open to illusion. But why, like an 
insane man, be afflicted with illusions ? I am 
only Mind, and that Mind is God's Mind. 
All Mystics in continuing to live here on 
earth are untrue to themselves. 

The traditional answer to this is, of 
course, — suicide would be committing one's 
self to the greatest of illusions. But I reply, 



T^he ^Truth in Christian Science 61 

What does suicide matter, so long as it is an 
illusion ? With no intent of harshness and 
in perfect seriousness it must be said that 
the real logic of the Christian Science posi- 
tion — the logic of those who believe that 
matter does not exist — would compel all 
Christian Scientists to free themselves from 
the thralldom of the illusions of matter by 
one grand suicidal act. 

And further : were the Mystical doctrine 
consistent, not only would all Christian Sci- 
entists disappear, but none would ever have 
existed. Let us see why this is so. Suppose 
that a certain man comes to believe that sensa- 
tions and ideas are illusions, and that matter is 
nothing. That man can never tell his revela- 
tion to another man. The only way in which 
he can impart his revelation to others is 
through ideas clothed in vocal tones, which 
set in motion certain atoms, which strike the 
tympanum of another person's ear, which 
causes a sensation, which creates ideas. This 
entire process the Mystic calls an illusion. 



62 "The Truth in Christian Science 

Moreover, a Christian Scientist's own idea 
of Christian Science is an illusion, — because 
it is an idea. By his own presupposition that 
all is an illusion except the mind of God, he 
has forbidden his brain to think his own doc- 
trine of Christian Science because thought is 
an illusion. Further, he has shut himself off 
from communicating his doctrine to others, 
the method of the communication being an 
illusion. 

The consistent Christian Scientist never 
existed. He cannot think, much less can he 
be a missionary of what he cannot think. 
The only logical thing for a Christian Sci- 
entist to do is wholly to avoid speech, lest he 
illude others ; never to think for himself, lest 
he illude himself ; and then, in order abso- 
lutely to prevent all illusion to himself and 
others, to commit suicide. I repeat, — not 
only would all Christian Scientists vanish, 
if they were consistent, but none would ever 
have been. 



The Truth in Christian Science 6j 

While we declare this of Christian Science, 
we must remember that our own theories of 
life, whatever they may be, will also have 
their difficulties. We all are finite, and no 
finite theories will stand a searching analysis 
such as we have here made. By no means 
do I intend this criticism as a caricature. 
The only problem before any man, in matters 
of such ultimate importance as this, is to 
seek, not for a perfect theory— that being 
beyond the range of possibilities ; but for an 
ideal that has the fewest inherent difficulties. 

The self-destructive character of Mysticism, 
even in expressions of it that are profounder 
than Christian Science, stands in the way of 
its general acceptance. Its neglect to take 
account of, and explain, our ordinary life in 
the general scheme of things offers to the 
theorist an additional objection to its accept- 
ance. Besides, Christian Science does not 
offer to the world the full value of the Mys- 
tical doctrine, while the inadequacy and 
incompleteness with which it states its case 



6//. "The 'Truth in Christian Science 

would cause a student of the subject to turn 
aside to its fuller development in more historic 
forms. Again, on its practical side it is not 
unique, but is one of a large number of 
practices founded on mental suggestion. 
As a symptom of our current social life 
it is of very great importance, and it 
portends, during the next fifty years, a 
welcome era of idealism which will take the 
place of the age of materialism through 
which we have lately been passing. 



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